Developing a strategy to scale up place-based arts initiatives that support mental health and wellbeing: A realist evaluation of 'Arts for the Blues'.

ABSTRACT: Place-based arts initiatives are regarded as rooted in local need and as having capacity to engage local assets. However, many place-based arts initiatives remain poorly funded and short-lived, receiving little attention on how to scale up and sustain their activities. In this study we make a unique contribution to knowledge about scaling up place-based arts initiatives that support mental health and wellbeing through focusing on the example of 'Arts for the Blues', an arts-based psychological group intervention designed to reduce depression and improve wellbeing amongst primary care mental health service users in deprived communities. Methodologically, we used realist evaluation to refine the study's theoretical assumptions about scaling up, drawing on the lived and professional experienc

SUBMITTER: Karkou V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10760705 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature